In the last two weeks parents, teachers and school administrators throughout the North Shore have been attempting to put the results of the first exams to incorporate the newly adopted Common Core learning standards into perspective.
The bad news, if you want to see it that way, is that in virtually every district in the North Shore scores dropped by double digits in both English and math.
The good news is that these districts fared better on the new exams than Suffolk County, New York City and the rest of the state.
The statewide percentage of students in grades three through eight achieving proficiency dipped to about 30 for both math and English, according to state Education Department figures.
But the truth is that the children lucky enough to attend public schools in our area are getting an excellent education. That was true last year and it’s true now.
The real failure may well be in the implementation of the Common Core standards and the new testing.
The state Department of Education needs go back to the drawing board. It needs to learn from this failure. Perhaps they should spend some time in the public schools on the North Shore. We don’t presume to know how to measure or quantify this, but the real test should center on two standards:
1 – Are children getting a broad education covering everything from math to the arts that will instill in them a love for learning that will last a lifetime?
2 – Are they getting the skills they will need to someday move on to higher education and compete not only with other American kids but with students from around the world, especially from Asia?
We were not all surprised to see that superintendents in every district in our coverage area took issue with the new testing.
Great Neck Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Dolan said, “I reject the test results because I think they’re contrived.” He went so far as to suggest that public schools throughout the state were set up to fail in order to promote charter schools and voucher programs. Still, he said, “we did exceptionally well.”
One common criticism coming from all of the districts in our area was that a full Common Core curriculum was not released in time to prepare students for the exams.
“We didn’t have all the state curriculum yet,” said East Williston Superintendent of Schools Elaine Kanas. “We didn’t have all the information of what we should be teaching.”
But addressing a more fundamental problem with the testing process, Manhasset Superintendent of Schools Charles Cardillo argued that it is confusing to students and parents for education officials to refer to the change in testing expectations as “a new beginning” while at the same time predicting that scores would drop.
The real failure with the new Common Core testing is not in the excellent public school districts of the North Shore but in the state Department of Education.
Our fear is that superintendents will be intimidated into changing curricula and teachers will begin teaching to the test just to keep their jobs.
Yes, there needs to be common standards that every school in the state must meet. Our children must get an education that will prepare them to compete on an international level.
But the testing based on the new Common Core curriculum will not take the schools in that direction.
The test was a resounding failure.
